Closet -Fashion Style App

Inspiration

One of our groupmates, Tanveer, had this idea for months, and we brought it to life through this Hackathon. The problem came from having outfits that we wanted to wear, but not having a method to visualize or expand our wardrobes.

We also wanted to add a collaborative and social aspect to it like Beli, and make it accessible to use.

What it does

Closet helps users visualize and build outfits from the clothes they already own, while also giving them a way to expand their wardrobe with AI-powered recommendations.

Users can save outfits, get styling suggestions, find real products online, and interact with other users through social features. The app also includes purchase support through Capital One Nessie and allows users to connect their personal wardrobe with recommendations that match their style.

How we built it

We designed every screen in Figma first, and then rebuilt them in React Native (Expo).

The backend is built entirely with a Hono API on Neon Postgres and Object Storage. For our other sponsors, Gemini was used for the AI stylist, SerpAPI finds real products, and Capital One Nessie handles purchases.

We split the work by ownership between mobile and back end, worked on separate GitHub branches, built the front end against mock data while the back end was being coded, and used AI prompting with a shared team guide so that everyone's code followed the same rules.

Challenges we ran into

One of our biggest challenges was getting started and figuring out how to split the work so all four of us could build efficiently at the same time. We had to agree on the design, data structure, and responsibilities before we could really move quickly.

We also ran into Gemini’s free-tier limits, so we had to adapt by moving scanning and verification away from AI, reducing stylist calls, and saving live Gemini requests for the demo.

On top of that, working with four people in the same codebase led to many merge conflicts, so we had to constantly sync with main and use Git hooks to help protect each person’s files.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud that we were able to take an idea that had been around for months and turn it into a working mobile app during the Hackathon.

We were also able to connect multiple parts of the project into one experience, including the mobile interface, backend, AI stylist, real product search, purchases, and social features. Being able to build the front end and back end in parallel and then connect everything together was one of the biggest accomplishments for our team.

What we learned

Through this project, we learned a lot about what it takes to actually build something together as a team.

We used Git and GitHub to manage branches, pull requests, and merge conflicts while working on different parts of the app at the same time. We also got more comfortable building reusable React components and keeping the app organized.

A big part of the process was connecting the frontend and backend, especially agreeing on shared data structures, using mock data first, and then switching everything over to real data from our server.

We also learned how to integrate external APIs while keeping keys secure, and how to take our Figma designs and turn them into a working mobile app.

What's next for Closet -Fashion Style App

Next, we want to keep expanding the app by improving the styling experience, making wardrobe recommendations more personalized, and adding more features around social interaction and discovery.

We would also like to improve how users add and verify clothing, expand the number of stores and products available through recommendations, and continue making the app feel more polished and useful as a real everyday fashion tool.